Dear Democrats: Stop freaking out - By Eugene Robinson

If Democrats want to beat Donald Trump, they need to get past the freakout stage and get to work.

In a sane and just world, this presidential race would be a walkover. Commentators would already be sketching out their postmortem analyses of an all-but-certain Hillary Clinton victory. Pare the contest down to its essentials: A former senator and secretary of state, eminently qualified to be president, is running against a dangerous demagogue who has never held public office and should not be allowed anywhere near the White House. Ought to be case closed. But it’s not. Clinton’s big lead in national polls following the party conventions, which approached double digits, has shrunk to about two points — far too close for comfort. Trump has gained ground in swing-state polls as well. If the election were held tomorrow, Clinton would probably win. But Nov. 8 is many weeks away, and the recent trend line is hardly in her favor. Why has the race tightened?

I’ve heard a lot of theories, but I’m not sure I really buy any of them.

Trump’s current set of handlers — campaign manager Kellyanne Conway and chief executive Steve Bannon — have done a better job than their predecessors of keeping their candidate from committing acts of self-destruction. They have gotten him to use a teleprompter more, rant and rave less, and sometimes go as long as 48 hours without spewing idiotic vitriol on Twitter. These are no small accomplishments.

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